Persona: Shadow Operatives
by IshvalanBlood
Summary: The World's constant struggle with Nyx ended 6 years ago, or so they thought. The Grand seal is weakening and shadows are once again plaguing the world. It is up to the Kirijo Group and the Persona users to end this new threat and save the world from the evil of Nyx once again. Starring everyone from P3 and P4 this is going to be a long fic where new bonds are formed and tested.
1. Prologue

**This story is based off of a customized origin story of Nyx which will be explained in the prologue, other than that the character are all the same as if their games ended with the best possible ending. Couples are important in this story so here they are, please don't hate: Akihiko x Mitsuru (married), Souji x Yukiko (dating), Yosuke x Chie (dating), Kanji x Naoto (dating), Adachi x Yukari (Yukari was dating Minato in P3) may happen later in the story (Let me know what you think) anyway please enjoy and comment with any grievences.- IshvalanBlood**

Velvet Room

Igor placed his hands under his large nose and closed his aged eyes,

"It seems my two guests are heading towards a brand new destiny." He thought for a moment,

"It seems Nyx is on the verge of breaking that seal, but there is hope, those two who will oppose Nyx and I guarantee they will win this fight." He snapped his eyes open,

"I wonder how this will play out, don't you Margaret?" the silver haired woman simply nodded while still reading her compendium she always had on her person.

"Indeed, things will become interesting from here on in."

A young man with bluish hair walked silently through what seemed like an endless desert,

"How long has it been now?" he suddenly asked himself. He thought about it for a moment,

"It's been 6 years by now" he answered himself flatly. Six years ago Minato Arisato had succeeded in stopping a great and unstoppable evil from ending the world, however that victory had cost him his earthly life replacing it with the life he had now. Minato was forced to walk in this never ending desert to keep the strength of the seal from weakening. But after six straight years of walking, even he was feeling exhausted.

"You could stop walking at any time you know" an empty voice appeared inside his mind, Minato knew exactly who was speaking. Nyx the evil being that attempted to end the world nearly six years ago, the being that Minato was desperately trying to keep sealed.

"Why? So you can destroy the world again? No chance in hell am I gonna let you break free!"

Even after saying that Minato fell to his knees shaking uncontrollably,

"Your time is up foolish boy! You grow weak as I grow stronger; all you accomplished was slowing down the inevitable." Nyx laughed maniacally at her statement. Minato was in a cold sweat, he felt like he was about to die, he was completely on the ground now, sand swallowing his body slowly,

"This is it? Damn…you….Nyx" he said weakly while being eaten by the burning sand,

"Yu…..kari…..please…forgive…me" he said closing his eyes. Nyx simply laughed as her white mask appeared on Minato's face,

"Yes, this vessel will do nicely" she hissed as Minato's body stood up.

"This time the fall will not be prevented" she laughed hysterically as Minato's body disappeared into thin air.

Kirijo Headquarters

Mitsuru was finishing up her work for the day as the head of the Kirijo group.

"Mitsuru?" a knock came at her door, she immediately recognized the voice, it was her husband, Akihiko Sanada. Now if you had told Mitsuru even two years ago that she was going to be married to Akihiko, she would have thought you were nuts, but it just sort of happened.

"It's unlocked, Aki" she went right back to typing, she was almost done after all. Akihiko came into the room wearing a white t-shirt and brown cargo pants, "Mitsuru we have a problem" he reached into his pocket and placed a small vial on the table in front of his wife,

"Remains of a shadow, one that I killed on my way here. Not just that, there are numerous reports from all over the country of shadow related activity, including apathy syndrome." Mitsuru stopped immediately unsure about how to approach the situation, the shadows should be gone, that business was over and done with. She grabbed the vial and observed it,

"This…" she trailed off, "This is a shadow's remains, no doubt about it" Akihiko crossed his arms, a common motion he made when he was nervous. "This makes no sense, dammit; shadows shouldn't be popping up out of nowhere." Mitsuru nodded,

"You are absolutely right, something is amiss, I will have the scientists observe this right away." Akihiko cracked his knuckles,

"Good thing I keep my evoker on me at all times" he said patting his holster, Mitsuru rolled her eyes.

Akihiko hovered over Mitsuru until she was done with her work,

"Well that's all I had to get done today, is the car out front?" she asked turning to Akihiko,

"Yeah, I drove over here as fast as I could, figured you'd want to check out those remains." His face got serious, "Mitsuru, I think it might be time to do some recruiting" Mitsuru knew what he was referring to. Two years ago they were assigned to retrieve a shadow combat android named Labrys; while on the job they met more persona users like themselves.

"That sounds like a good plan; I'll have my secretary prepare mission statements for those areas experiencing shadow activity for them to prove themselves." Akihiko nodded,

"That works, it'll be a good test for them" Mitsuru nodded and pulled out her cell phone to have the mission statements sent to the homes of the investigation team they met two years ago.

"And also add an evoker and instructions to each package; they will need them to use their personas outside of that strange world." Mitsuru hung up and turned to Akihiko, "Aki I need you to make sure those packages get to their targets" Akihiko nodded,

"Of course, looking forward to seeing those guys in action again."

"Oh and one more thing, one is being sent to Tohru Adachi, speak to him face to face to make sure he is ready for this." Akihiko knew the name; he was the one who took the blame for the bizarre murders that took place in Inaba a while back.

"Are you sure we need him?" Mitsuru nodded, "It's been a few years, and his mindset could have changed. That's why I asked you to speak to him one on one; I'll trust your judgment." Akihiko nodded, "Got it, this should be fun to watch" Mitsuru rolled her eyes again,

"It will certainly be interesting." The pair got into the car outside the building,

"Aki, alert the others and tell them to lend assistance as you see fit" Akihiko nodded,

"Understood, you sure are giving me a lot of responsibilities, haha" Mitsuru shrugged,

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked, in response he gave her a quick peck on the cheek,

"Not at all, in fact it's about time you trusted me more." With that the couple drove to their home to prepare to monitor the battles ahead.

**Well that's the introduction, sorry if it felt rushed towards the end. My college semester is ending so I will be writing like a mad man starting in a couple of weeks, I might even get back to The Emperor's Fortune as well, stay tuned and follow for news. Remember to COMMENT and FAVORITE both those thing give me encouragement to keep writing. Well that's all for now, Cheers!-IshvalanBlood**


	2. Time to Make History

**Here is chapter one and the first of the indy missions of the former investigation team from Persona 4, first up is Souji! Please enjoy and remember to tell me what you thought of it! Part two of Souji is next followed by part one of Yosuke's indy mission. **

Chapter One: Time to make History

Souji Seta sat back in his chair adjusting his tie at the same time. He was in school to study law and just got back from a formal sit in on a real court case.

"What a long day" he said exhausted, he was in his small apartment just off his college campus. Souji was about to hop in the shower when a knock was heard at his door.

"Who could that be at this hour" he checked his watch, it was 11:00 PM. Souji opened the door and noticed a package addressed to him resting on his porch.

"What is this?" he picked it up, _Kirijo Group_ he read in his mind,

"Wait, isn't that the group from two years ago?" he shut the door quickly and retreated back into his small living room. Souji opened the package and removed its contents, a letter, a red armband that read "S.O" on it, and what looked like a gun. He immediately looked at the letter, reading it in his mind,

_Dear persona user_

_You have been selected by the Kirijo Group as a recruit for the "Shadow Operatives". Inside this package is a mission brief, complete it and the position is yours. The gun shaped tool in your package is not the type that shoots bullets; it is called an Evoker and is used to summon a persona anywhere, any time. Instructions for its use are enclosed. Please make sure you can use it with no trouble before you embark on the mission. Do not tell anyone about your mission it is specific to your own skill set. Thank you and good luck_

_Mitsuru Kirijo_

Souji put the letter down and read the mission brief, it mentioned shadows that gathered in a warehouse in the city he was attending college in.

"That's really close to here." He commented gripping the evoker in his left hand.

"So how do I use you?" he asked the gun shaped object. Souji read and understood the instructions,

"So all I have to do is aim at my head and fire, sounds easy enough." He thought that the Kirijo Group was trustworthy enough when he had met its agents two years ago. He retreated into his bathroom and turned on the shower, the noise would conceal any sounds that were about to happen. Souji looked at the gun,

"Shoot myself in the head? Is this really gonna work?" he questioned, he noticed his hand was shaky,

"No, come on Souji get it together, if there are shadows around it's your responsibility to take care of it." He stopped shaking as he placed the evoker to the side of his head,

"Yeah, no one else can take care of this" he said slowly gripping the trigger, he closed his eyes and squeezed, *BANG* the sound of a gunshot shocked Souji as he shot his eyes open and jumped back, but what was in front of him shocked him even more. It was his persona, Izanagi-no-Okami in all his glory. He was the same persona he used to defeat Izanami back in Inaba when the murders were still happening.

"I-Izanagi?" he questioned, the giant persona turned and looked at him, he silently got on one knee like he was swearing allegiance to Souji then disappeared into thin air. Souji picked the evoker off the floor and placed it on the counter.

"So it really does work" he took a deep breath,

"So much for a normal life, I wonder if the others got similar packages. At any rate, this is my fight, I can't ignore a bunch of shadows and if they are appearing in the real world, something must be amiss." The buzzing of hiss phone knocked him out of his thoughts,

"Oh crap I was texting Yukiko" he got his phone and looked at the message,

_Did you fall asleep?_,

Souji quickly texted back,

_No, just took a shower is all_,

Souji hoped that she would buy that, *BUZZ* he checked his phone,

_is everything okay?_

Souji knew how to handle this,

_Yeah everything is fine, don't worry about me so much, hun_

he sent the message and got an immediate response,

_I try not to but I just miss you is all_

Souji's heart broke a bit, he hadn't been to Inaba in a while,

_I know, I'll try to visit soon, I am going to bed, I love you Yukiko_.

Souji did not get a response to that one, so he turned and took a shower thinking about seeing his persona again.

The next morning Souji attended his classes as normal. Once he arrived at his home he tossed his backpack aside like dirty laundry and reopened the package he had received.

"Just gotta deal with the shadow threat, shouldn't be too hard, right?" he told himself as he plugged in the address to his phone.

"Whoa, it's close, better take care of this fast" he told himself. Souji grabbed the evoker and put it in his jacket pocket along with a picture of Yukiko for motivation. As he was leaving he received a phone call from none other than his girlfriend.

"Souji! How are you?" Yukiko asked in a rather cheerful tone.

"Hey Yukiko, how is it going?"

"I asked first Souji!" she raised a fine argument,

"I'm doing alright, just stressed from these exams" Souji said. He was thinking about telling her about the package and the fact that shadows were appearing again, but he bit his tongue.

"Are you alright Souji? You sound tired" Souji failed at disguising his shaky voice, yeah he was exhausted from school but someone had to stop these shadows, right?

"Nothing you need to worry about, Yukiko. Just some things I have to take care of is all." Yukiko sighed over the phone, she had obviously meant for Souji to hear it,

"Fine, just don't do anything dangerous" Souji smiled,

"Oh so you do care?" he said slyly,

"Of course I care, Souji, just be careful, I don't know what I would do without you." Souji detected something amiss, Yukiko was being awfully attached today,

"Hey, uh, did something happen to you Yukiko?" She was silent as Souji waited for an answer, suddenly he heard sobbing from the other side of the phone,

"Yukiko, you okay?" he asked somewhat panicked,

"No, I'm really not Souji" Souji prepared himself to listen,

"My father has fallen extremely ill, they don't think he will live another week" she broke down after that, Souji wished that he could hold her in his arms right now, long distance sucked big time.

"Yukiko, I am so sorry, is it his heart again?" Yukiko muttered something that sounded like a yes.

"How about I visit this weekend?" Yukiko answered,

"You sure you can afford to do that?" Souji smiled,

"Anything for you, and besides your father is like my family too, I'm sure my teachers will understand."

"Ok, I'll see you Friday Souji" Yukiko said,

"I'll be there" Souji answered before closing his phone, not even three seconds later he received a text from Yukiko,

_I was serious about you being safe, don't do anything dangerous _

Souji did not text back. He left the single room apartment and headed to the address, a warehouse just off of campus.

"This place looks abandoned, was this a prank or something" Souji was knocked out of his thoughts by movement in front of him, it was a shadow, a small one but it was still there.

"Damn, what's with this fog?" Souji questioned,

"Wait, it's just like the fog from the TV World a while ago, don't tell me it's back!" Souji grabbed something from his back pocket; it was his gray glasses from the time he spent with the investigation team. He smacked them on his face and slowly opened his eyes taking a deep breath at the same time.

"Let's do this, Izanagi" he gripped his evoker and ran into the fog covered warehouse.

What Souji Seta was walking into was beyond his wildest imagination, he entered a large room covered in fog except for a single path leading to a throne on top of a bunch of cages. Inside the cages were some familiar faces, shadows that Souji recognized were locked up, for what reason Souji figured there was a higher force in power here.

"Who's there, show yourself!" He yelled in an attempt to confirm his suspicions but he received nothing in response.

"I will show myself in good time my boy" the voice made Souji shiver as it invaded his ears, it was an empty, dark voice filled with insanity, Souji shook his head trying to maintain his composure.

"My name is Ryu and I am a collector of sorts. Mostly shadows as you can see, I'm always looking to add to my collection." A figure appeared in front of him, it was an evil looking man with wrappings around his face except for his eyes, the rest of his body was concealed in blackness and his eyes were blood shoot and empty making Souji shiver more.

"You look scared young man, is something the matter?" he appeared behind Souji, his tongue almost licking the side of Souji's face,

"Yes, you will make a fine servant. Give in to the shadows it will be so much easier for you." The man calling himself Ryu suddenly disappeared into thin air, Souji rubbed his eyes,

"Damn it, am I this out of practice?" he had beads of sweat dripping down his face, and he was finding it hard to breath properly, Souji took a knee and before he could react he was surrounded by Mayas. He grabbed his evoker and tried to summon Izanagi, but it was knocked from his hand before he could shoot, he fell to the ground, whatever had hit him hit him hard and it was not alone, Souji couldn't reach his evoker and had nothing to defend himself with, he felt the shadows closing in,

"Shit, this was a stupid idea, I should have ignored that damned package!" He closed his eyes waiting for the end.

"Forgive me Yukiko….."

Souji was ready for the finishing blow; he slammed his eyes shut as the shadows surrounded him.

"Trismegistus!" Souji heard another voice yell out not even a second later the shadows that were about to end his life were set fire and backed off as they became ashes. Souji stood up and tried to run to his evoker only to be stopped by another shadow.

"Oh, crap!" he said taking a step back, suddenly a sword flew from the rafters and stabbed the shadow right in the blue mask it was wearing. "Damn, forgot one" the same voice as before, it was confident, not like the voice of the one who controlled these crazed shadows. A man jumped down from the above catwalk and smirked as he grabbed the gold handle of his katana.

"You must be Souji Seta, right? The name's Junpei Iori, good to know ya!" he extended a hand; Souji took it and nodded slightly, still a little bit shell shocked. "W-what is going on?" he managed to ask the older man, Junpei had a light beard and wore a leather jacket with jeans and tennis shoes. "Figured as much, they were never good with details" Souji perked up,

"What was that?" Junpei rubbed the back of his head,

"Nothing, look all you need to know is that I am a member of the shadow operatives. We are putting new recruits like yourself through trial runs but it's dangerous so our bosses sent current members like me to help out." Souji was starting to understand, the Kirijo Group needed the help of his investigation team, the close friends that managed to stop the Inaba murders while still in High School.

"I see, so who is that?" Souji pointed to the man who called himself Ryu. He was clenching his head as if he had a headache the size of Okina City. Before Junpei could answer Ryu spoke,

"Your trying to separate me from my children aren't you?! You want to steal them from me!" Souji and Junpei got ready to fight, Souji started by running to grab his evoker before he was blocked again, he retrieved it and got ready to pull the trigger, Junpei readied his evoker as well. Junpei smirked suddenly as he put his evoker away,

"I'll let you handle this one, strut your stuff peacock!" he bowed and took a step back. Souji gripped his evoker tightly as Ryu continued his insane ramblings.

"But you won't succeed, they won't leave me for you, no, they won't leave like everyone else." Souji clenched his fist as a dark aura enveloped the crazed man,

"I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU STEAL MY CHILDREN!" The shadows he called his children exploded around him in a cloud of black smoke. "Here we go!" Junpei said from behind Souji as if observing a show,

"He must be supremely confident in his skills" Souji theorized. He had no time to think further though as what was now before him was a large behemoth holding two cages in each one of its gargantuan hands.

"Attack! Attack! Attack!" the giant yelled as multiple shadows emerged from the darkness of the cages and flew right at Souji. Souji refused to hesitate this time,

"This is it, let's do this like old times, IZANAGI!" He yelled as loud as he could shooting the evoker into his head. A blue light surrounded him and the original God Izanagi-No-Okami appeared in all his glory.

"Maziodyne!" Souji announced to his white robed persona, Izanagi simply nodded and spun his blade in the perfect circle summoning lightning blasts from out of nowhere killing all shadows in the area. After the smoke cleared Izanagi stood confidently in front of Souji,

"That was beautiful man! Very impressive, Souji!" Junpei patted Souji on the back. The beast formally known as Ryu was still up and rampaging around the warehouse, "We aren't done yet" Souji said, Junpei nodded,

"Very true, shall we end this?" the behemoth punched downward right in between Souji and Junpei knocking both of them backwards and causing Izanagi to disappear.

"Dammit" Souji cursed slowly standing while gripping his aching side.

"You alright Souji?" Junpei asked from somewhere in front of him.

"I'm ok but that was on hell of a punch" Souji said back,

"You can say that again, he's more powerful than I thought" A light enveloped Junpei for a brief moment and then went away, Junpei looked tired before and his jacket was ripped but now he was just as he was before the punch,

"Oh, it's one of my persona's abilities, it's called spring of life" Junpei said proudly.

"That's a nifty ability" Souji commented. "Why?" The giant shadow beast asked,

"Why won't you leave me alone? Why does everyone hate me so much, just leave me alone!" Ryu cried out flailing pieces of stone at the two men challenging him.

"What is this guy's deal?" Junpei questioned,

"Who cares, time for some action. Souji, attack with me let's see what kind of damage both of us can do at once!" Souji nodded and readied his evoker. Two shots and two personas emerged

"Alright Trismegistus, use Agidyne!" Souji nodded thinking of a good compliment for Junpei's fire.

"Alright Izanagi use Garudyne!" The wind attack was like a tornado as it gathered up the powerful flames and headed straight for the shadow beast before them, the flame tornado hit with deadly accuracy and the monster fell backwards and lay there silent.

"That's how it's done, that was awesome!" Souji shook his head,

"How old is this guy?" he thought to himself.

"Well I guess that settles it, you are defiantly welcome on the Shadow Operatives" Junpei followed up with a thumbs up to which Souji nodded in recognition.

"Here" Junpei handed Souji a red bandana with a black "S.O" printed on it.

"Just put that somewhere on your body and you are officially a member, I look forward to kicking more ass with you!" Souji wrapped the bandana around his upper right arm and tied it tightly.

"I'll be happy to join you guys, if there are shadow problems, I can't ignore it, not with my power." Junpei nodded in approval,

"Couldn't have said it batter myself." He said with a laid back tone.

"IT'S NOT OVER YOU BASTERDS!" The shadow beast stirred and shot up from its back with large scorch marks all over its body.

"No way, he's still alive after an attack like that?" Junpei said in disbelief,

"Hey Souji quick question, do you have the skill Megidoloan by any chance?" Souji nodded a quick yes and Junpei's face lit up,

"Ok, then have this", he shot his head and his persona emerged,

"Use Tarukaja!" The area around Souji's feet glowed yellow and he felt a surge of power that was transferred to his persona,

"Now let 'em have it Souji!" Junpei said jumping backwards out of the way, Souji took a deep breath as he stared down the shadow beast that towered above him, Souji shut his eyes and envisioned those he wanted to protect, he saw Yukiko, Yosuke, Kanji and all the others that he had helped while in Inaba. Suddenly his eyes shot open,

"This is the end of you!" He said with confidence,

"Izanagi, Megidoloan, bring him down!" Izanagi nodded once and jumped up to get to eye level with the beast, he spun his blade and it began glowing with pure power. Almighty power began to pour out of the blade and hit the beast directly causing a massive explosion that did not even phase Souji, Junpei was blasted back slightly himself, but after the dust settled, there was no more shadow beast to be seen. Souji heard whistling behind him, "Damn man you make me proud to wear this" he said pointing to his own bandana. Souji nodded,

"Ryu should be dust, so what happens now?" Junpei shrugged,

"We go back to the Kirijo building in Tokyo and wait for more orders" Souji sighed slightly,

"Alright, I'm ready to leave behind my studies to help the Kirijo group" Junpei smirked,

"Of course you are, studying can wait, we got shadows to kill!" he slapped Souji on the back lightly

"But before we head back, is there a good bar around here? I could really use a drink, you know?" Souji smirked slightly,

"I know one place" "Lead the way then" Junpei said.

The two Shadow Operatives were well into an evening of drinking by now, it was currently 1:20 in the morning.

"Yooooooo Souji, what time is it?" Junpei asked drunkenly. Souji had a few as well but he was nowhere near as messed up as Junpei was right now,

"I think it's almost 1:30" he said in response se to the question. Junpei started laughing randomly,

"The night is still young then! To the Dart Board!" he said raising a glass as he marched over to the dart board. Junpei's game had defiantly improved since high school, he was surrounded by women watching him nail his fourth straight perfect Darts game.

"That's amazing!" one of girls cooed,

"Thanks, years of practice right here!" Junpei said pointing at himself. Souji was told once that he was a darts master when he was drunk, and he wanted nothing more than to see Junpei knocked off his high horse. Souji ordered a few more drinks and was on his fourth when he decided to walk over,

"Hey!" he said a little loudly, Junpei shot his head up to see Souji with his glasses on and hair smoothed back,

"A challenger approaches" Souji said bowing and smirking. Junpei bowed back,

"Have at thee than worthy opponent!" he said beckoning Souji over to the dart board. It was one of the closest matches in the bar's history according to the manager, both Souji and Junpei had a perfect game going into the last round.

"You turn peacock, goo luck up there!" Junpei said drunkenly, Souji took a deep breath, he was damn near hammered at this point but he was surprisingly focused on his objective, he tossed the dart and scored a score of 20 on the board for his first non-Bull's eye of the evening,

"Player Advantage" he simply said handing a Junpei his final dart. A full crowd was gathered to watch the two drunk men play and they were getting in to the game, everyone was silent, Junpei lined up his shot. He tossed the dart and it hit a bull's eye winning him the game,

"Boooyah! Enemy Advantage!" he said at Souji who simply shrugged taking another sip of his beer. The night went on and the two operatives could not have asked for a better bonding exercise, the pair played poker and won, they had the game of darts, and they beat a couple of older guys in a drinking game neither of them remember playing. Overall it was a great night and a great way to unwind after the Ryu fight earlier. The next morning, they woke up with slight hangovers but still managed to find Junpei's car and take the drive to Tokyo where Souji would meet with Mitsuru to confirm his admission to the Shadow Operatives.

**Well that was Souji's solo mission, next up is Yosuke's entitled "Playing Hero" Update soon! PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW THIS STORY, I NEED FEEDBACK! Until next time ~~ Ishvalanblood**


	3. Playing Hero

Chapter 2: Playing Hero

Yosuke Hanamura led a pretty bland life to the outside observer. He was the manager of the Inaba branch of Junes, a large superstore chain that had stores up and down Japan. Yosuke himself really couldn't say when he took command, one day his father called him into his office and promoted him on the spot. It all happened so fast that Yosuke could not decline and now while his father enjoyed retirement, Yosuke enjoyed a significant pay raise and the leadership responsibilities that he never had.

The first thing Yosuke did with his money was move out of his parents' house. It wasn't like he did not like his parents, but he had always wanted his own place to crash. Yosuke had matured a lot over the years and he owed that to two things: His new job as manager, and his girlfriend Chie. Honestly that last one still blew Yosuke's mind, somehow he had ended up with the person he always had screaming matches with in high school. Right now he was on the roof of his Junes thinking about how exactly it had unfolded.

Senior Year, Christmas, Flood Plain

Yosuke ran a hand through his hair and sighed, not far behind him was Chie wearing her heavy dark green coat, Yosuke had to admit, she looked great in that coat. Chie's voice broke his thought,

"Yosuke! Why did you drag me out here? It's freezing!" Chie blew into her hands to emphasize the thought.

"Well, I just wanted to talk" that wasn't the truth and Yosuke knew it, in fact he knew exactly why he asked Chie to come here on such short notice. Their senior years were almost over and Yosuke didn't want any regrets. Chie had already informed everyone she knew that she was going to some fancy police academy about an hour away from Inaba. Yosuke needed to tell her how he felt, in case he didn't see her for a while.

"So, um, do you like me?" Yosuke asked a little quietly, but loud enough for Chie to hear him clearly,

"What kind of question is that? Of course I like you!" Yosuke cringed,

"Of course, she's gonna make me spell it out" he thought while gripping his nose between his fingers.

"No, not like that Chie, like, have you ever thought of you and me before?" Chie raised an eyebrow her lip twitching slightly,

"You and me doing what?" Chie asked,

"No, she did not just say that, she is playing with me right?" Yosuke was getting frustrated now at how Chie was avoiding his attempted confession, after all there was no way she was serious at this point right?

"DATING! Birdbrain, I mean you and me dating!" Yosuke almost yelled the first part; however there were not many people around to listen in much to his comfort.

"Who the hell are you calling birdbrain? I thought you promised never to call me that again and" Chie stopped her rant as Yosuke's other words from his previous sentence finally landed. Chie started to blush and looked away from Yosuke.

"W-What did you just say?" she asked a little timidly. Yosuke sighed, his frustration overriding his embarrassment, which was a good thing because he would probably be lighting up like a Christmas tree if he was not so frustrated with the woman before him.

"I asked you if you ever thought about you and me dating before?" he said tying together all of his previous sentences making it clear as the winter sky what he was talking about. Chie stopped blushing and focused on her and Yosuke actually dating. They did fight all the time and Chie had inflicted bodily harm to him on more than one occasion, but ever since the P-1 Grand Prix incident something changed. The pair would still have arguments, but they were different then from when they were sophomores, in fact most of the time it seemed playful, almost flirty. She even hid out at his place occasionally over the past year when Yukiko was busy and she did not want to face her ridiculously strict parents. Chie knew that they both had grown up a lot over the past two years,

"Well" she finally said rather quietly,

"I never really thought of us like that before, but…" she trailed off trying to find the right words to say,

"Come on, don't trail off like that" Yosuke said in a slightly panicked tone. Chie looked a bit irritated herself at Yosuke's last comment,

"but I suppose I wouldn't mind giving it a try." She finally managed to say, Yosuke's eyes lit up has he leaped forward and grabbed Chie in an embrace, Chie promptly blushed furiously but she did not seem to mind the hug,

"At a girl! I promise you won't regret it!" Chie pushed Yosuke off her

"I better not" she said with a slight smirk.

"So, uh, you wanna meet up tomorrow? Maybe go see a movie? I heard that new kung fu one got good reviews" Chie nodded,

"Yeah that sounds good, I'll meet you in front of school tomorrow, ok" Yosuke nodded,

"Yeah, and don't you worry, I'm buying!" he said. That one movie was all they needed to realize the feelings they had were mutual, Yosuke was feeling bold towards the end and put his arm around Chie expecting to get a punch for it. But none came, in fact she leaned into him. After the final credits they went for a walk,

"So I figure I have to ask this: Why are you ok with us being together? I know for a fact that two years ago you wouldn't have even considered my offer." Chie thought for a moment,

"I don't know, I guess you've gotten a lot more mature since I met you and you're defiantly not a pervert anymore." Yosuke was going to make a smart ass joke but bit his tongue as he continued to listen to Chie's explanation,

"Besides, I'm leaving after this semester and I figured it was now or never." Yosuke smiled, he had thought the exact same way,

"Well I'm glad one of us decided to ask the other before it was too late" he said, Chie grabbed his hand softly and looked up to him,

"Yeah, I'm glad" with that they held each other in a tight embrace before Yosuke kissed Chie on the top of the head lightly, she did not object.

Present Day, Roof Top of Junes, Evening

Yosuke's memory was interrupted by his ring tone, the new single from Rise's upcoming album, he answered after a little bit because he enjoyed the song.

"Hello this is Hanamura speaking" The voice on the other end was all too familiar,

"Yeah, I know who I called" it was Chie, "So, you off work yet Yosuke?" Chie asked,

"Yeah just got off, I'm walking home now" he lied but it was not a damaging one, he was in the elevator to get to the ground floor after all.

"So how are things at the academy?" Yosuke asked trying to keep the conversation going,

"Things are going fine, I might even have a job offer in our hometown! Isn't that great!?" Yosuke's eyes lit up, that might have been the best news he had heard in a while,

"That's awesome Chie, is it with Dojima-san's people?" Yosuke asked,

"Yeah, he is the one that offered me an entry level position with the Inaba police department." Chie explained.

"I'm really happy for you, Chie." The conversation continued until Yosuke got to his apartment just outside of Inaba,

"Ok, I love you too Chie, talk to you soon, bye" he hung up and unlocked his door; he was exhausted from a long day at work.

The next day Yosuke was typing up sales reports for his store in his office when a relatively new employee knocked on the door.

"Come in" Yosuke said without looking up from his computer,

"Um, Hanamura-san?" the employee asked, Yosuke finally looked up to see Shen Mayamusa standing at the entrance, he was a few years younger than Yosuke and was a high school student trying to make some extra money.

"Yes Shen, can I help you?" he asked with an eyebrow raised,

"Yeah, I need a little help with a delivery truck, he dropped off a lot less than we ordered." Yosuke got up from his desk actually relieved to stretch his legs for the first time today.

"I'll get on it, Shen thanks for telling me" the two left the room and worked things out with the delivery company,

"Hey I'm heading for lunch, you wanna have a chat?" Yosuke asked, Shen nodded,

"Yeah, sure why not? I'd be happy to join you sir." Yosuke cringed,

"Come on you don't have to call me sir, just call me Hanamura alright." Shen nodded as the two grabbed lunch together, it was nice to talk to one of his common employees every once in a while, it gave him perspective on the morale of the part timers.

"You ever think life in this small town can get boring?" Shen suddenly asked, Yosuke froze, for some reason all he could think about was his shadow he had faced so many years ago,

"Well, yeah, but it's part of the charm, you know?" he quickly answered the younger man and ended the conversation, now he sat alone in his office,

"Dammit, why is this bothering me so much anyway?" he asked himself,

"I faced down that thing before, got my persona, but it has been kind of boring around here lately." Yosuke sighed heavily.

It was late now and Yosuke was heading home for the evening still thinking about what Shen had said,

"You ever think life in this small town can get boring?" The question rang in his head more than it should have, it wasn't Shen's fault it was an honest question. Yosuke took his phone out of his pocket,

"I really need to talk to someone about this" he muttered to himself as he dialed Chie's number, he put the phone to his ear,

"Come on Chie pick up" he said out loud.

"Hello?" it was Chie's voice,

"Hey Chie you got time to talk?" Chie could sense the urgency in her boyfriend's voice,

"Yeah of course, is everything ok?" Yosuke nearly broke down, he knew she would be there to listen to him,

"No, no everything is really not ok" he said,

"Yosuke what happened?" Yosuke explained what Shen had said earlier,

"Not to sound bad but why is that question bothering you so much?" Yosuke came to a halt in his conversation,

"Holy shit I never told you did I?" Chie seemed confused now,

"Told me about what?" Yosuke paused,

"About my shadow" Chie did not respond for a few seconds,

"No you did but it's been a long time, mind refreshing my memory?" she said,

"Ok, I'll give you the quick version, My shadow was bored with everything it even said that the only reason I entered the TV that day was because it sounded like a cheap thrill, that I didn't care about the murders at all as long as my boredom went away." Chie listened quietly,

"And now look at me, I'm more bored with this place then ever! I thought I was over this, dammit!" he was starting to sound more panicked, Chie cut him off,

"Yosuke, calm down. Look, there is nothing wrong with getting a little bored but that doesn't mean you are turning into your shadow." Yosuke took a deep breath,

"And besides, if I remember correctly, your shadow was really immature, like he was complaining about everything. You've grown up Yosuke and you are nothing like him." Chie reassured him and Yosuke believed her,

"Thank you for that Chie, I really needed it. I might come into town and see you soon, I've got a few vacation days coming up." Chie smiled on the other end of the line,

"I would like that Yosuke."

"Ok I'll talk to you again soon, alright, good night." They hung up as Yosuke decided to go check his mail for no particular reason. That's when he found it, a package in the mailbox, Yosuke grabbed it and read the label, it was addressed to him with _Kirijo Group _written on the bottom of the label.

"Wait, weren't they the ones who helped us back during the Grand Prix?" he questioned has he shook the box lightly receiving a small racket came from inside the mysterious box. Yosuke took it inside his apartment and placed the box on the counter; he opened it up and pulled out a letter, a red armband with "S.O" written on it in black letters and a device that looked like a silver gun.

"What is this? A gun?" Yosuke freaked out dropping the device on the floor of his kitchen. He decided to read the letter before he jumped to conclusions.

_Dear persona user_

_You have been selected by the Kirijo Group as a recruit for the "Shadow Operatives". Inside this package is a mission brief, complete it and the position is yours. The gun shaped tool in your package is not the type that shoots bullets; it is called an Evoker and is used to summon a persona anywhere, any time. Instructions for its use are enclosed. Please make sure you can use it with no trouble before you embark on the mission. Do not tell anyone about your mission it is specific to your own skill set. Thank you and good luck_

_Mitsuru Kirijo_

Yosuke looked back into the box and found the instructions for the Evoker's use,

"I have to shoot myself in the head with that gun thing to summon my Persona?" he questioned out loud. He also read up on the mission brief in the box,

"What the hell? It's in the Junes warehouse!? How did that happen?" Yosuke knew he had to protect his own store but he was not so keen on shooting himself in the head with a gun to do so.

"The letter said that it isn't a real gun, and that Mitsuru woman from the Grand Prix was a persona user herself, so I guess I can trust her." He picked up the Evoker and stuck it to his head, his hand shaking as he did so.

"Damn, this is crazy" he said as the sweat dripped down his face. He was struggling to pull the trigger, the apartments around him were not occupied so no one would hear a noise if he pulled the trigger.

"Alright, come on Yosuke, this is for Junes" he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger slowly, the bang sound went off making Yosuke's eyes fly open. What he did not expect had happened, he was staring into the eyes of his persona, a figure he had not seen in years.

"S-Susano-O?" he asked reaching out to his persona, Susano-O simply nodded his head and crossed his arms signifying that he was ready for action again, with that he disappeared form Yosuke's field of vision.

"Damn, I never thought I would see him again, that's for sure." Yosuke held the Evoker in his hands for a moment before placing it on the table and sighing,

"Guess it's time to do this, hopefully I'm not too rusty." He went to his bedroom and opened his closet doors, he reached for a box labeled "memories" and placed it on the bed. He dug through the box until he pulled out his Kunai knifes from his days of adventuring into the TV World.

"Good thing I didn't toss these" he thought out loud. He also dug out his glasses from his time in the Shadow world and threw them on his face,

"Now then let's do this!" He said almost running out the door, he was headed to Junes to face down his first shadow in years and he was actually really happy he was doing it.

Yosuke rolled up to his Junes with master key in hand to start looking for the shadow that Mitsuru said was hiding out there.

"Alright, come on out, I'm ready for you." That's when he saw them, a couple of low level shadows that looked really agitated,

"Perfect warm up" he said taking out his Evoker from his jacket pocket, he shot himself in the head as his mighty persona appeared before him,

"Let's shake off some rust! Garudyne!" he yelled, Susano-O slammed his hands together and a blast of wind exploded up from underneath one of the shadows like a geyser. The first shadow was vanquished but one still remained,

"Ok, one more, use Brave Blade!" Yosuke yelled as Susano-O kicked his giant ring around his body towards the second shadow, it was blown up immediately.

"That's what I'm talking about! Why to go Susano-O!" His persona bowed to him as it disappeared into thin air. Yosuke continued running through his store until he reached the back room, he tried to open the door but was interrupted by some ice that a shadow behind him summoned.

"Damn, you things again?" Yosuke questioned as he readied his Evoker, but before he could summon Susano-O again, lightning surrounded the shadows and blew them up in on attack.

"Sorry about the kill steal, Yosuke" the voice was calm and collected, this guy clearly knew what he was doing, "Wait, I recognize that voice" Akihiko emerged from the darkness waving his hand,

"Hey Yosuke, I was told by Mitsuru to back you up, looks like we both arrived around the same time." Yosuke nodded

"You're that protein junkie guy from the Grand Prix right?" Akihiko cringed at the name he was called,

"Yeah and you're captain resentment." Yosuke sighed,

"Right, sorry, so where is the target anyway?" he asked trying to change the conversation,

"It's behind that door" Akihiko said calmly,

"You ready for this Yosuke, should be one hell of a fight" Yosuke nodded, "I think I can manage." Akihiko nodded slightly,

"Good, then let's go."

Yosuke opened the door to the back room it was really dark except for on light coming from the loading and unloading area of the warehouse. There sat a sinister looking man with a magician mask on his right shoulder.

"Finally some competition" the figure said suddenly,

"I've been waiting for you two to make your way here, things might finally pick up after all." Yosuke held his Evoker tightly,

"What are you talking about, get out of my store!" Akihiko said nothing; he just looked on to see how Yosuke handled this situation.

"I'm talking about entertainment, that's why I am here." The figure started walking forward,

"I am a shadow, all I know how to do is kill" the shadow said flatly, Yosuke felt a bead of sweat drip from his forehead,

"This is my store, get out!" Yosuke yelled at the shadow.

"You have it wrong, boy, this is my store now!" the shadow said,

"Now show me this strength you have" the shadow reached out his fist and extended his fingers creating an electric current around the nails. He launched it at Yosuke who did not have time to react, thankfully Akihiko did react, as his persona Caesar stepped in front of Yosuke to absorb the Ziodyne attack.

"Snap out of it man, I need your help!" Akihiko yelled snapping Yosuke out of his trance,

"Right" he simply said shooting his Evoker and summoning his persona,

"Alright, let's show him what we've got, Garudyne!" he yelled as Susano-O created an eruption of wind under the mysterious shadow, he was blasted back and slammed against a wall but he was still coming at them.

"Now that was power, Yosuke, great shot" he cracked his neck to the left and right has a twisted smile appeared across his face.

"But it's gonna take more than that." Yosuke nodded,

"Fine. Akihiko you used Zio attacks right?" Akihiko nodded,

"Yeah, what did you have in mind?" he asked wondering where Yosuke was going.

"A double attack, distract him with a Ziodyne then I'll have Susano-O use Brave Blade from behind, that should knock this joker down for the count!" he smiled at his own plan, Akihiko nodded,

"Alright sounds good. You heard him Caesar, let em have it, Ziodyne!" the persona launched a lighting barrage against the shadow who assumed a defensive position to block the electrical storm. Yosuke told Susano-O what to do in the meantime, the persona snuck around the distracted shadow and slammed his round blade into the dark skin of the shadow,

"Argh!" The shadow flew forward and landed on his face, blood streaming from his back.

"Damn you two, that was dirty!" the shadow cursed from the ground.

"That was a good strategy, great work Yosuke" Akihiko said as Yosuke approached the shadow on the ground and kneeled next to him,

"Why are you here, who sent you?" he asked, the shadow laughed and grabbed Yosuke by the collar,

"No way I'm telling you, guess you'll just have to figure it out by yourself, huh?" With that the shadow melted into the ground and the lights returned to the facility. Yosuke sighed as he stood up and looked at Akihiko,

"So what happens now?" he asked him,

"Now if you want to join us, I will take you back to Kirijo headquarters to join the others." Yosuke raised an eyebrow,

"The others?" he repeated. Akihiko nodded,

"I believe your friend Souji is already there." That caught Yosuke's attention,

"Souji is there?" If he was joined up then it must be serious, he was in the middle of school after all. Akihiko smirked knowing he was joining there cause,

"Come on we can talk more in the car, alright, I'll fill you in on the increase in recent shadow activity." Yosuke nodded as the two left the building,

"I guess I am taking those vacation days now, sorry Chie" he thought out loud, Akihiko,

"You and Chie dating now?" he asked, Yosuke nodded,

"Yeah, for a few years now" Yosuke said.

"Don't worry about her; I think she is on Mitsuru's list so hopefully she will join up with us as well." Yosuke's eyes lit up, this could be the chance for some excitement after all he missed his days of saving the world. Fighting shadows was one of the only things he was actually good at. So now it was his time to shine, it was time for him to play hero once again.

**Well there's another chapter, had a good time writing this, I don't usually write from Yosuke's perspective but I think I did a pretty good job. Anyway PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW, NO ONE HAS DONE IT YET AND I AM FLYING BLIND WITH NO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Thank you and look forward to my next chapter: It's Chie's solo story entitled "Serve and Protect"- IshvalanBlood **


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